The VOICES consortium presented on the topic of ‘Nostalgia and populist challenges in post-industrial communities: Futurephobia and the reimagination of the past’ at the ECREA 2026 conference in Brno, 8–11 September 2026. Conference abstract: Post-industrial communities experience some of the highest indicators of relative deprivation and evidence possessing populist and Read more
James Morrison will be answering questions about his new book, The Workless, at an upcoming free online Q&A event hosted by Nottingham Trent University’s Research Centre for History, Heritage and Memory Studies. The event is the latest in a series of public-facing ‘history and policy’ seminars with a thematic focus throughout Read more
Call for Contributions for a Special Section of Global Media Journal – German Edition– Summer 2027 Deadline for full paper submissions: 15 January 2027 Representations of (Post-)Industrial Communities: Voice, Visibility and Value Guest Editors: Anke Fiedler, Universität GreifswaldDarren Lilleker, Bournemouth UniversityJames Morrison, University of Stirling Industrialization across the globe, and Read more
Prof Lilleker had the pleasure of attending Bournemouth International Film Festival (BIFF) and participating in a panel discussion on who tells working-class stories. The panel followed a screening of the 1969 Ken Loach directed film Kes. Set and filmed in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Kes tells the story of Billy Casper Read more
Edited by Anke Fiedler, Darren G. Lilleker, James Morrison, Maike Dinger, Mediating Industrial Change sheds light on the process of deindustrialisation that has affected much of Western Europe for many years. The chapters in this volume explore the immense economic and social challenges, and how they are represented through media. Cumulatively Read more
On June 27, 2026, the IAMCR Working Group “Communication in Post- and Neo-Authoritarian Societies,” in collaboration with the VOICES team, organised a pre-conference on the topic “Representations of (Post-)Industrial Communities: Voice, Visibility, and Value.” Twelve papers from across North America, Europe and Asia – including scholars from the United States, Read more
This book contests the hegemonic discourse around ‘worklessness’ – and dominant definitions of what we recognize as ‘work’. It argues the current ‘crisis’ in economic inactivity is merely the latest in a long line of moral panics that have exaggerated the scale of ‘worklessness’ while denying the value of unpaid Read more
The German VOICES team has reached an important milestone: with the final focus group in Weißwasser on 27 May 2026, the WP2 fieldwork phase is officially wrapped up! The numbers speak for themselves: a total of 155 individuals made the WP2 fieldwork possible through their engagement – across 17 storytelling Read more
May 7 saw elections in some UK councils and in Scotland and Wales. In England Reform were the biggest winner. They gained 1,454 seats, the former industrial areas of Tyneside, West and South Yorkshire being notable in Reform winning control of the councils of Barnsley, St Helens, Sunderland and Wakefield. Read more
On 23-24 April 2026, Anke Fiedler from University of Greifswald gave a keynote speech on the topic of “Locality Constructed, Contested, and Lived: Rethinking Media Inequality in Post-Industrial Communities” at the workshop “Locality and Context: Examining the Role of Place in Understanding Media Inequalities”, organised by scholars from Indiana University’s Read more